On Monday June 20th 2011 John Perry TD, Minister of State for Small Business, will launch St. Angela’s Centre for Special Educational Needs, Inclusion and Diversity (CSENID). There is a team of eight lecturers working in the Centre, which is responsible for four key areas:

• Curriculum Planning
• Programme Delivery
• Research
• Resource Advancement

“Through the Centre we hope to continue to build on our excellent reputation in the area of SEN, Inclusion and Diversity and raise our profile regionally, nationally and internationally.  Currently, we provide programmes from Pre-Undergraduate to Post-Graduate level. These include Post-Graduate Courses in Special Educational Needs, Autism and Professional Studies, Masters programme, Introductory programmes in SEN, Certificate Courses for Special Needs Assistants and online modules in Autism, Specific Learning Disabilities, General Learning Disabilities, Challenging Behaviour and Adult, Disadvantage and Intercultural Education. We envisaged that CSENID will continue to target professionals working in this area and be proactive in addressing their professional needs” said Dolores McDonagh, Director of the Centre.

“Within the next five years, it is our vision to continue to offer the existing suite of programmes and also to design and deliver further undergraduate and post-graduate programmes as well as shorter professional development courses based on needs analysis research.  This is in keeping with St Angela’s College’s mission, of initiating, developing and modifying programmes to respond proactively and positively to existing and emerging needs of the educational community regionally and nationally. A greater emphasis will also be placed on acquiring research funding, the continued organisation of conferences in the area of SEN, Inclusion and Diversity, furthering partnerships with the school community and the development of resource advancement through a curriculum development unit”. 

In line with the Centre’s research commitments, the launch coincides with the formal presentation of a research report entitled “A Phenomenological Case Study Exploring Different Perspectives on Inclusion within one Post Primary School in the North West of Ireland”.  This research was led by Dr. Ann Marie Casserly and Dr. Ann Henry.

“The research was funded by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and offered opportunities to build further links with the school community in the region.  Ireland like other countries has acknowledged and embraced the move towards inclusive practices and this research facilitated the examination of how inclusion is working on the ground.  A broad cross-section of students, subject teachers, support teachers, parents, SNAs, ancillary staff and management provided an extensive insight into the workings of inclusion and demonstrated how various stakeholders perceive and experience inclusion in different ways” said Dr. Ann Marie Casserly.